Starting my kalk reactor....

Edward Smith

Edward Smith

Active member
I'm evaporating about three gallons a day. Going to start it up at one gallon a day and slowly kick it up to the three gallons over the course of a week.

But......

Do I attempt to spread out that three gallons over the twelve hour period that the lights are off or over twenty fours hours?

Thanks,

Ed
 
I drip 24hrs a day.

Are you running a reactor or just a mixer like we talked about? What are you using to dose in the end? I have all the tubing and could show you how to hook it up if you want to use the C/L pump.

Anyway, I drip 24hrs except for 2hrs around each mixing period.
 
I'm using an aquamedic reef doser on a timer with a mixer but thanks for the offer.

So 24hrs has been working for you. Thanks
 
Yes, slow drip continuous.

So well, I had to stop my 2-part! CA=550, dKh=10.5. oops! :)
 
Excuse my ignorance (and thread hijack Ed!), But what is the difference between a Kalk and Calcium reactor?

RandalB
 
Holy RO Units, Batman!

Randal, all this time in reef and you don't know difference betweena Kalkwasser reactor and a Calcium reactor?

Go to Premium Aquatics or your vendor of choice and look at the prodcuts, my friend!
 
Hey, Randal's (let's give him a new nickname? = Vandal :) ) a FOWLR guy. Like coralless banded shark peepee boy, Rich, but with some class.
 
I know the difference between Bionic and Kent Two Part Supplements.... That's about it.

I had the crash course in Calcium Reactors from Doug LEHMAN last night but didn't come across a Kalk Reactor until this post.

I tried the search function but I usually can only get results in the wee dark hours.....

Enlighten me someone please! LOL

RandalB
 
I know of no difference btw between B-Ionic and Kend 2-part supplements... They are made to do the same thing I believe.
 
Actually, The Kent Stuff has much prettier bottles...

Tanks for the links!

So, let me get this straight. A Kalk Reactor adds calcium via calcium hydroxide and a calcium reactor uses media and Co2 to do the same thing?

RandalB
 
You are wading into the BB vs DSB type of debate that winds up with people "moved on" I think. So, I'll just say, YES!

But not exactly. I don't run any sort of reactor. I have a kalk mixer though.

Not the same cuz kalk you can use for topoff for all evaporation. Basically, kalk for topoff instead of RO water.

Reactor replaces 2-part additives as it is a very slow drip. Cheaper media lasts longer.

'Cep the equipment costs a ton unless you are scumbag like Ed who only calls his friend about a great store sell-off when he knows he's close enough to get there first and scam the $25 (YES YOU READ THAT RIGHT) reactor. Did I mention he's a slimebag too?

Oh, yeah, so where was I? Except for Ed, these things are expensive. Whereas you can make 2-part and spend $50 on a dosing pump and not spend as much as the calcium reactor equipment alone for 3-5 years.

Unless you are Ed. Did I mention Ed?
 
He knows I'm kidding (you know, yeah? If not forgive, it's late, I'm punchy, been working 8am to 2am days while the family is away trying to finish this blasted book.). It was an awesome deal and I know he's having fun setting it up, tweaking, etc.

BTW Ed, I STILL have that gate valve in my trunk for you! Saw it yesterday and thought, why the heck is that in there? Remember when we were talking about those?
 
Calcium reactor media uses CO2 to create Carbonic Acid that slowly dissolves Calcium Carbonate media within the reactor. The two reactors use different media. If only chosing one type of Ca supplementation, the Ca Reactor is better, but also involves a much higher initial cost than does the Kalk reactor.

Here's a formula that explains what happens in a Ca Reactor:
CaCO3 + H2O + CO2 <-> Ca2+ + 2HCO3-

According to Sanjay Joshi, certain types of Ca Reactor media contain high levels of phosphates (i.e. Caribsea Sea Flor tested at 0.25-.30 ppm of phosphate) where as others may have lower PO4 values. On the other hand, Kalkwasser has the ability to precipitate PO4 from the water in the form of Calcium Phosphate. This is one of the many reasons why it is best to use a combination of both methods to increase Alk/Ca levels within the aquarium.

Here's a very informative article on Ca/Alk and the pros and cons of different dosing methods, by A. R. Calfo:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/calcalkmar.htm


HTH :).
 
Ed started this thread? Never seen a thread of his hijacked before. Maybe he should start another one on the same topic!!!

To quote Chris aka Misery: Bwahahaha!
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7881869#post7881869 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ostrow
He knows I'm kidding (you know, yeah? If not forgive, it's late, I'm punchy, been working 8am to 2am days while the family is away trying to finish this blasted book.). It was an awesome deal and I know he's having fun setting it up, tweaking, etc.
Click to expand...

Are you kidding, I'm from NJ. This is the only kind of humor I understand. If were not insulting, were not communicating :)
 
Thanks for the info guys, I am going to start out with the Calcium Reactor on my new system and add the Kalk if needed....

RandalB
 
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